The present invention relates to medical devices and especially to catheters for draining that are to be placed in an organ, duct or vessel of the body for a prolonged period of time. A catheter for draining an organ or vessel can be placed there either subcutaneously (that is by puncturing the skin of the body and directing it through the puncture into the organ) or by inserting the catheter into a natural opening of the body. In many cases, many catheters are removed shortly after they have performed their function and are not kept in place for a long time. On the other hand, some procedures require that the catheters remain in the organ or vessel and with those cases it is necessary to fixedly dispose them so that they will provide for drainage for the desired period. In such cases, the outwardly extending or trailing end of the catheter is usually secured in place by pads and surgical tape. The surgical tape is wrapped around the catheter and attached to the skin to prevent movement or accidental dislodgment therefrom.
According to the present invention, I have discovered that a catheter which is to be disposed in the organ or vessel can be positioned to prevent retrograde movement out of an organ if a multi-shapeable, flexible woven mesh tube formed of plastic strands is disposed between the proximal and distal ends of the catheter. The construction of the woven mesh tube allows it to be translated from a relaxed state in which it has an expanded ovoid configuration to an extended biased configuration in which it has generally cylindrical shape. The extended configuration with the generally cylindrical shape allows the physician to easily place the catheter in the desired location in the organ to be drained. When in place, the woven tube can be allowed to reshape itself to the relaxed state with its ovoid configuration, thereby maintaining the catheter in place. For further security, the woven tube can be translated into a third configuration in which it assumes an over-center shape, that is it can be urged into a disc or cup-like shape. Either of these over-center shapes can maintain the catheter within the organ or vessel to be drained for a prolonged period of time without adversely affecting the drainage of the organ or vessel or the quantity of fluids that are drained. Also these expanded shapes can be readily translated into the extended configuration so that the physician can withdraw the catheter easily.